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Miraculously Saved From Tornado! - Insights From Bill Bright - Oct.19

Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anywayMatthew 20:29).

Dear friends:

Some time ago I learned about a family whose house was completely destroyed by a vicious tornado. Miraculously, their three-year-old son and his baby sitter were both spared of injury or death.

The parents, being Christians, thought this tragic experience was a good opportunity to teach their son an object lesson about the love and protection of the our Lord Jesus. So they carefully explained to him several times how Jesus was with him and took care of him.

The next day a news reporter arranged to interview the family. In preparation for the reporter's visit, the parents again went over the object lesson with their son.

The reporter arrived and one of his first questions to the little boy was, "Were you afraid?"

"No" came back a calm reply from the boy.

"Who was with you at the time?" the reporter asked.

Without hesitation the boy responded, "Just the babysitter."

At this point, the parents interrupted and coached him to tell who else was with him during the tornado.

"Nobody!" the boy insisted.

The parents persisted, "Wasn't Jesus with you, protecting you, son?"

But to the parent's dismay, the boy innocently confessed, "I didn't see him."

We can surely understand a little three-year-old child not understanding the invisible presence of our Lord, because sometimes even adults have difficulty comprehending this spiritual fact and walking in its light. However, I have heard of little children who have had amazing understanding of the Lord and what we might consider deep theological truths.

No doubt, the little boy will learn about faith knowledge later, but the story illustrates both the innocence and sheer honesty of little children; plus, it reminds us that we cannot yet, in fact, see Him with our natural eyes.

But in His great love, our wonderful Lord has even designed that present spiritual reality for our blessing. Our Lord told the doubting Thomas, "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway" (Matthew 20:29, NLT).

We have not seen Him. But we are blessed because we believe anyway!

And we know that "when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who believe this will keep themselves pure, just as Christ is pure" (1 John 3:2-3, NLT).

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, John wrote, "all who believe this will keep themselves pure." Such a reality, knowing that we will, in fact, "see Him" face to face, is strong motivation for present purity.

Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,

Bill Bright

The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000 full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world's population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide. The film, "JESUS," which Bright conceived and funded through Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in 1980, the film has been translated into 839 languages and viewed or listened to by over 5.7 billion people in 228 countries. Dr. Bright was also the author of more than fifty books. Visit campuscrusade.com for more details

Copyright (c) 2003, Bill Bright. All rights reserved. However, readers may copy and distribute this message as desired, without restrictions in number, as long as the content is not altered. Forwarding this e-mail to friends is encouraged. For many evangelistic and spiritual growth materials, visit the Campus Crusade for Christ Web site at ccci.org. See campuscrusade.com for Bill Bright's own materials.